We hadn't eaten at Cactus Jacks before, and heard that it was a popular hangout of our friends' friends. So we went there for lunch one day to check it out.
If you want my advice, if you're looking for good mexican food, go dine at Serranos Mexican Cantina in Beenleigh. I wasn't overly impressed with Cactus Jacks.
I imagine that Cactus Jacks is a good place if you are looking for a heap of drinks with friends. It has the atmosphere of a small, noisy tavern. The place has over-the-top mexican decorations (which I don't mind, as practically all mexican places do). I had the impression of the place being too dark and crowded, liked they tried to fit too many tables, chairs, and other furnishings in too small a place.
Almost as soon as we entered CJ a young female staff member approached us and found us a table. She seemed pleasant enough, though a little rushed.
We were waiting for some time at our table before we were approached by the 'drinks waiter'- a young man who looked very unkempt. All of the staff members I saw were young (late teens, early twenties) with simple uniforms. I had the impression that 2 of the 4 staff members I saw were "dirty" by their crushed aprons, messy hair, etc. The staff members were not rude, but they didn't have that general friendliness that I've experienced at so many other restaurants. They seem to do the bare minimum of what is seen as good service.
After we ordered our drinks, we had to wait for a separate 'food' waiter to take our food order. We ordered the garlic bread entree because we were really hungry and needed something to eat soon, and the fajitas (with extra tortillas so we could share).
After a long wait, we received our drinks. Another long wait, we got our "garlic bread". Oddly, very shortly after our garlic bread was served, we received our main meal also, which sort of defeated the purpose of us getting the entree.
The garlic bread was poor quality. The bread itself was quite nice, but had little detectable flavour. Stacks of melted cheese and butter don’t make for nice garlic bread.
We were very impressed with the fajita meat. They used a quality steak, char grilled, then sliced and served (still tender) on a bed of grilled capsicum and onion. It was actually very tasty.
The tortillas that arrived with the meat were TINY. And, instead of receiving the optional extra tortillas that we ordered, we only got the three tiny tortillas which usually come with the meal. They had to go back and get the rest of the tortillas. The only condiments that came with the fajitas were tiny bowls of sour cream, salsa and guacamole. I would have expected jalapenos, shredded cheese and lettuce as well. There was only one steak that was used for the fajita meat, but this was enough as we could only fit 2 or 3 small strips inside each tiny tortilla.
The price of the food and drinks weren't bad. About what you would expect to pay at a tavern.
Overall, I won't be going back to Cactus Jacks. Their meat was beautiful, but with no other positives, I'd have to say this was a bit of a failure compared to many of the other restaurants I've been to. If you want to come here for the bar scene, knock yourself out, though I don't know why you would when there's a Gilhooley's just across the plaza....
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
