Wow! Absolute worst experience ever. Started off with a bang. Sat down. Ordered guac. 45 minutes later the server came to check on us and said they make the guac fresh. Still no guac. Then 10 minutes after that the server said we could have queso instead (which she charged us for!). At an hour mark, we started standing up and asking about our food. We ordered three salads. Two with chicken and one with pork. They do not make that meat to order. That meat is slow cooked and therefore READY. 7 minutes after that we got our salads! Still no guac. No drink refills. No apology. No sense of urgency. No communication. Management was no help either. Probably won't go back. What a shame. Servers and the kitchen can't get it together. We normally go here or get takeout once a week for 3-6 people. Absolutely ridiculous. Would've been over moon if they offered an apology or maybe free queso which we didn't want in the first place. They had live music which might be nice if it hadn't distracted our server. read more

Lunch Today was perfect, again the waitstaff we had was my favorite- MILLIE ! With Southern charm she made our meal experience fun ! fast & personable ! shay read more

California-style Mexican food prepared fresh for each order. Daily lunch and dinner specials. Their own salsa and chips appear as soon as you get seated. Tables inside and out on the brick patio. For Valentine's Day they offer a special 5 course dinner, table cloths and a rose for the ladies. read more

Delicious food with authentic Mexican flavors. Creative combinations not found in other Mexican restaurants. Slow service and missed an order in our group resulting in that person getting their meal last and everyone else's being cold while waiting. Margaritas were terrible. read more

The hostess really killed the vibe. I grew up in Pensacola and Cactus Flower used to be welcoming, homey, and delicious. It has since gone downhill a lot. The hostess showed no welcoming attitude and walked around without purpose. We walked in and there was ample seating and no wait. The hostess was nowhere to be seen and when we did catch her eye, she didn't move any faster to seat us. But seemed very annoyed to be working. The queso we ordered had a really strange "roux" consistency and tasted terrible. Other than the lousy entrance, our server was great and the food, aside from the queso, was good. read more

I stopped in for lunch. I'd had Cactus flower before in Pace and loved it. This time I got two beef tacos with black beans and rice. I would say it was a just okay. Nothing yelled you need to come back! The service was great at first, but after the food arrived I was forgotten. I had to ask another server for my bill. I was never offered a refill until I was signing the bill. I did enjoy the chips and salsa! read more

Cactus Flower Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Pensacola, Florida

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I guess ok was visiting , a little slow , ummm the waiter forgot something on my order the drinks not strong at all read more

Cactus Flower Cafe - Free nachos - Mexican Near Me - Pensacola, Florida

Could be a 5 star restaurant, but not today! My wife and I frequent Cactus Flower on 12th ave. and have for many years, but today's experience left us disappointed with the service our waitress displayed at checkout. Two points: - she never checked on us after we were served until it was time to pay. - when she brought us the bill, she "dropped" it on the table as she walked away and muttered a, "have a good night" but no eye contact, no sincerity, no Thank you for dining with us....nothing. That kind of service leaves one with a bad taste in your mouth. We may never return... read more

Today, I had the best shredded chicken taco at Cactus Flower Cafe in Pensacola, FL. The chips and their homemade salsa was SO GOOD. My waitstaff (Millie) was professional and Southern -Sweet. She was very kind. I highly suggest this place for atmosphere and wonderfully tasty food. I think I am addicted to their chips & salsa! read more

Entrees are still as great as I remember but: they sat us on the Togo side-this was awful. Queso was weird. Service was slow. read more

Cactus Flower Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Pensacola, Florida

Ordered enchiladas, chicken. What comes to mind is the old Wendy's commercial where's the beef. In this case it would be where's the chicken. It had more cheese than chicken. There are too many other Mexican / texmex restaurants in Pensacola that do a better job. read more

First off let me say this was a very busy night as we went right before new years. When we arrived as a party of 8 we were quoted a 20min wait time. We waited 30 min before our table was ready. Now that isn't a large difference but a place that "appears classy" should know that if the wait is longer than what is quoted they should come check on the guests/offer appetizers/apologizes. After sitting it was 10min before our server came and got our order then took 45 min for our food to come out! This restaurant looks very nice and upscale and the servers were friendly but everything was very slow. There were multiple door dash drivers and order pick ups who waited PROLONGED periods of time for their food. When I went to the restroom the other half of the restaurant was half empty. They could have been playing catch up but that just isn't a great look. A few locals said this is very abnormal and they are usually quick but that just wasn't my experience. Again, with long waits and less than par attention I myself would've offered appetizers on the house. On to the food - everything was quite yummy and fresh. It was actually a pleasant surprise that the "California twist" didn't completely negate the tradition Mexican cuisine. I'm from south Texas where Mexican food is done fairly traditionally so Mexican food with a twist is usually not my favorite. I would definitely give this place an another try and I think you should to! read more

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Good spot for lunch with friends and the food was tasty. One of the friends I went with is a microbiologist and they pointed out that the plates had a lot of cracks and such in them, which can be carriers for high colony bacteria counts apparently unless sanitized extremely well so I guess they just need to replace some of the plates! Will visit sometime again in the next year or two! read more

Cactus Flower Cafe - Burrito - Mexican Near Me - Pensacola, Florida

We have been coming to Cactus Flower for years. It's always our first dinner when we get to Navarre. We got in to town today and went and ate dinner. We were very disappointed and won't be back. We got there and were seated, our waitress took our order and everything started out great. She brought out drinks then took our order. One of our daughters ordered a chicken enchilada flour tortilla, then just a cheese enchilada again flour tortilla. We were told there would be a $1.50 up charge for flour tortillas, ok fine. Our other daughter ordered 2 steak street tacos, everyone else ordered their food. After about 5-7 minutes waitress comes back and says they can only do cheese and ONION enchilada on corn tortillas. My daughter said I just want a cheese enchilada, I didn't order onion and waitress questioned daughter and my daughter was confused and said I just want a chicken enchilada and a cheese enchilada on flour tortillas no onion. Wishes got a little irritated and said $1.50 Up charge, again ok. After she went back to counter she started talking to two other girl waitresses and one male waiter. They began to snicker and looking over at our table and snickering again and kept taking and looking at our table (very unprofessional) By the time food came out we had all drank all of our drinks and not once did she come back and ask or refill our drinks. When she brought out our food my daughter's enchiladas were on corn tortillas (looked at receipt and we were charged $1.50 even though they were not on flour tortillas. Daughter didn't say anything just ate it. Our other daughter was brought out three street taco (no big deal but order was wrong). We had to ask for refills and we had nothing in any of our glasses. She said I'll be back. My mother in law had ordered pico de gallon with her food and it was not brought out and when my mother in law asked our waitress was very snippy and said if you would give me time I'll go get it and again acted irritated she had to do something for us. She continued to wait on other tables and still had not brought out refills. We ended up walking to counter and asking waiter if he could get our waitress to bring us refills, we were very thirsty. She finally came back and brought out refills. Our refried beans and rice (everyone but mother in law who didn't have it) were ice cold. We didn't say anything. We finished eating and didn't see waitress again, other help continued to snicker and look at our table. After about another 10-12 minutes we had to go and ask for our receipt. Waitress came over and we told her we had only asked for 2 street tacos not 3. She said I'll check on it. She finally brings it and everyone leaves, my husband goes and lays and I go to restroom. As I walk to restroom I over hear our waitress talking with someone say yeah they said they only asked for 2 tacos and we gave them threes then she mumbled something else. Wasn't a big deal we got three taco it was the fact she was not friendly, she was rude and unprofessional as well as the entire staff. I brought it to their attention we visit every year and have been for the last 6-7 years and the fact they were snickering and talking about us was just uncalled for. I feel we didn't do anything wrong, we were nice, polite when ordering even when asking for refills and our check. We will not be back. Cactus Flower staff has changed and it's not the same as it used to be. read more

Cactus Flower has been our go to restaurant for over 20 years. We have enjoyed great food served hot, excellent service, and reasonable pricing. Sadly things have changed. Our last two visits were disappointing. The chips were so salty our throats closed up. The service was slow. The food had very little flavor and would not even compare with Taco Bell. The food was lukewarm when delivered to our table. I can no longer recommend their 12th Avenue location. read more

Appealing little cafe in a strip shopping center. Friendly staff, with quick service, clean look. I tried the Mahi tacos but had to return them because they were dry, tough and breaded like nuggets ($17.99 for 2, ouch!). My waiter however was accommodating and brought the chicken enchiladas instead with smashed pintos and cilantro lime rice. These are palatable and moist, but lacking any signature flavor to the mole sauce. Sweet tea is probably the best thing on the menu! read more

So Sad that the service totally failed here not 1x and now 2x (Yes my bad for giving lame service another try) The food is so great which is so sad because the Service is so terrible I have a family member in the hospital and had a special request to please pick up Cactus I made an online order, I called 3x to make sure order would be ready (because 1st time no go for pickup ) and both times I walk in and told they would now do the order and I had to wait 30 minutes What the heck? Told Everytime on the phone order would be ready I will never go again The service is zombie mode A lot of wait staff and managers standing around In a zombie fog and all I want to do is bring cactus to my hospital bound, very ill family member when promised read more

So sad - have had houses in E Hill forever and this place is poorly managed now at best - after a bug filled cocktail returned and a 30 min wait for lunch with 3 tables in the place. No thank you. read more

Mango shrimp and fish tacos were so great! June was our server and she was the best!!! We will be back!!

Our server, Evelyn, so sweet and tried her best despite the poor management running this place. The food took over an hour to come out and was sub par and barely warm. The tacos, we could have got better at Taco Bell. The $30 shrimp and steak quesadilla had barely any shrimp on it. We expressed our concerns to the server, who took it seriously and wanted us to speak with the manager about our concerns. The manager, Mark, refused to speak with us and dismissed Evelyn and sent her back to our table with our checks. You could tell she was so embarrassed as to how he acted in front of the entire restaurant. He then proceeded to stand against the wall and stare at us until we got up to leave. One of the people in our party requested to speak with the owner on our way out, and the owner stated the manager Mark told her "he did not have the time to speak with us" which was clearly a blatant lie as he was standing against the wall doing nothing. We are so disappointed as this place is less than a mile from our house and we wanted to make this our new go to place. We will never be back here again. We hope Mark can learn the importance of guest experience and Evelyn finds a place to work that respects her as well as her customers. read more

As a family we were so excited to try this spot as it's less than a mile from our house and we hoped to make it our new regular spot. On a positive note our server Evelyn was incredible. She was so kind and attentive. Unfortunately everything else was terrible. First our drinks take over 20 mins then our food takes an hour to get to the table and it was subpar at best. We understand things happen so we kindly addressed the concerns with the server Evelyn and she took these concerns seriously as she removed the checks from our table and stated she would go speak to the manager Mark. We watched her walk over to the manager Mark who's leaning against a wall maybe 10 feet from us and watched him rudely dismiss her and refuse to speak with us and address the concerns. We explained that we watched this all unfold and you could tell how embarrassed and uncomfortable the situation and the manager had made Evelyn feel. We quickly reassured her it's not her fault and we greatly appreciated her kindness and professionalism. At this point the manager Mark is still standing on the same wall doing absolutely nothing and he proceeded to do this for the next 10 minutes after we asked to speak with him. Before leaving we asked to speak to the owner who advised us the manager Mark had told her he did not have the chance to speak with us which clearly a bold faced lie. It's so sad that an awful manager like Mark can cause what could have been a very forgettable and forgivable dinner that was not up to standard into an experience we will never forget at a location we will never return to. I just hope the owner understands how terribly Mark just represented this establishment and how little respect he had for our server Evelyn and us as customer. We will never be back. read more

Amazing service, excellent variety of menu options, fresh quality food, super friendly staff & overall excellent experience. Beautiful decor with a cool water fountain! Can't wait to come back!!! read more

Cactus Flower Cafe - Menu - Mexican Near Me - Pensacola, Florida

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The food was so so . Very bland . the Ambiance was full of activty and Lively. Service was slow considering all other tables were being served quicker that arrived after us. Not the Mexican food I was expecting but ok read more

Wonderful food. Horrible service. And our waitress, added automatic gratuity to our party of 7 without telling us. At check out, she put a digital reader in front of us showing ONLY a dollar amount but not the itemized bill. And no receipts. So all of us DOUBLE TIPPED. Our took 90 minutes to come out. The first round of margaritas was beautiful, and when a few of us asked for second round of margaritas, they never came. Customers from various tables kept wandering inside multiple times looking for workers, a bartender. Anything. The manager helped run our food out & she was very nice. I wouldn't have taken the time to write a bad review until I realized I was double charged for gratuity. When I tried to call the restaurant # on the receipt about the double gratuity, the phone # doesn't work. read more

Date night dinner with the husband and came here at the suggestion of a friend. We were greeted and chose an outside table. The weather held to allow for this although inside looked fine but did not feel as casual. Had the mango shrimp dinner and my only critique would be to allow me to choose my adventure with the mango salsa....the fried tortillas that wrapped the shrimp were a tad soggy from the juices. The flavors were all there though. The enchilada dinner was good too the meat was super tender and were not bland at all. Now as for the beans (both black and pinto) and the rice (both Spanish and lime) felt like afterthoughts. To make a fair assessment we ordered both. The rice and beans lacked any additional flavors or spices to make them special and the rice was slightly undercooked. Not bad just not new and exciting. The margarita was pretty spot on for a good drink but would only have one as the price would be for a whole gallon of margarita at any other Mexican restaurant. Overall would totally come here again. Perhaps will opt for the appetizer portion instead of the dinner portion to not waste the rice and beans. read more

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Went tonight, the server tried hard but we waited 1-1/2 hours for food. When the food arrived it was cold. i think that says it all . Not going back! read more

Found this place with google maps and it did not disappoint!! Great California Mexican and excellent service! Excellent parking and Happy Hour 3-6pm read more

this management is an absolute joke. haven't ordered in three months since service was terrible last time but said hey. I'll try again. same thing. the person who answers phone was rude and hung up on me. I can't believe how sorry these employees are I called after driver had been waiting 20 minutes for 1 plate of nachos. literally takes 1 min to slap nachos in a carton. absolutely 0 customer service skills. I will never "try again". I truly hope you go out of business. this is the worst managment, training, and customer service I have received. Do not go here. Taco Bell has better service and it's sucks. read more

Great service, quickly seated. Have stopped in here many times...Food is consistently good, I wouldn't go as far to say its the best around, but good. read more

Food was okay. Recipes have potential, but the execution and ingredient quality is lacking. The service was sloooow even for a Friday evening. They got my wife's order completely wrong and had to bring her a new order. The booth was broken, and I was sitting on a board. After they moved us, they continued to seat guests where we had been sitting. The bathroom floor was a filthy sticky mess. I don't think we'll be back. read more

I used to love cactus flower but they are the most inconsistent when it comes to making the exact same menu that they've had for years. Despite the years of having hit or miss food orders i still never left a review and kept coming back (only because pensacola has very limited options) but honestly this small thing that happened today really got to me so now it's time for the honesty to come out. I ordered a steak salad with the lime dressing. I love this lime dressing so I paid $1 for 2 extra lime dressings. The salad comes with a larger sauce container and you only get the tiny containers despite the high price tags. To make it worse, all 3 containers were filled half way. And as you can see in the picture, I was able to pour all 3 contents into the large container because they filled each one only half way. This is the cheapest, most insulting move a restaurant can make in my opinion. Im done with cactus flower. Also how are the chips stale all the time?!? This is probably the easiest menu item ever! To add to the list, the queso is bland, the tortilla soup is way over salted (I threw it away), and we ordered chips and salsa and they gave us barely enough chips for one person... I count 10 whole chips total. The rest are crumbs. read more

Cactus Flower Cafe - Don't pay extra for sauce. They only fill half way and get the same amount. - Mexican Near Me - Pensacola, Florida

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The chicken tacos were some of the best I've had! The rice was amazing! The salsa was also some of the best I've ever had. I wasn't too fond of the queso but everything else was great! read more

I was so excited to eat here but didn't quite hit my expectations. I ordered one of their margaritas it tasted like straight lime juice and no tequila. They were not very busy but getting water and chip refills was super slow and for a $60 lunch, I would have expected service to be quicker. The server was very nice and apologetic, but cold queso is not acceptable as we had to wait for chips. The empanadas were good but the queso was bland. I am glad I tried this place but will not be back very average. The rita was a disappointment. read more

This is my first time at this restaurant. I loved it! Great staff, food, and ambiance. I recommend the Mango Shrimp and the Queso Bite appetizers, Burrito Bowl for your entree, and Cactus Berry as your beverage. Not to miss! read more

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My office treats us weekly with a "family meal" from locally owned restaurants and Cactus Flower is by far the one I look forward to the most. Their catering is spot on! I recently went in while taking family to the nearby airport and it was a lovely experience. We were taken aback by how well customers and the friendly staff knew each other. The food is also spectacular! read more

Delicious food, great service food was out in no time. Loved the fact that we didn't have to wait long for our margaritas!! $2 for margaritas and they were not watered down!! We will for sure be back again. read more

Amazing food, and awesome 2$ margs during happy hour! Our waitress was great and gave us amazing recommendations!

Went here with my sister who lives in Pensacola. She treated me to lunch and it was great. Started out with the queso. The queso and salsa were very fresh and tasted good. We ordered the Santa Fe Enchiladas and it was really good. Only complaint, food came out before our wine. Not good. Would recommend. read more

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Ordered to go this time but I have eaten in before. Nice place, good service . I really like there fish tacos.

The food and drink are good as always! but beware the happy hour menu is deceptive. All of the drinks have asterisks next to them which makes you think they're included in happy hour. You actually have to ask for the specific ones from your server. Ended up paying more than the menu led me to believe Not too happy about that part read more