Iron Cactus Mexican Restaurant, Grill and Margarita Bar
| Address: | 10001 Stonelake Blvd, Austin, TX 78759, USA |
| Phone: | +1 512-794-8778 |
| Site: | ironcactus.com |
| Rating: | 3.5 |
| Working: | 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–1AM 10AM–1AM 10AM–11PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
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Juan Gonzalez
Waited 30 minutes to be seated for bad food when there were clearly tables clean and available. First we were seated at a highly overlit table, it felt like I was being interrogated. The waiter was very nice but slow and inattentive. We got reseated and the overhead lights kept getting turned up high and then down too low all night. The food took way too long to get served. The appetizer we ordered was served with the meal and was the only good thing we received likely because it was the only thing made fresh. The rest of our order was horrid. My partners fish tacos tasted foul and the chicken wrap I ordered was so soggy that it fell apart when I tried to pick it up. I took one bite and sent the dish back. It was extremely bland and lacked any flavor other than old. The salsa I hear everyone raving about was more like a marinara than anything else. It was even warm too. We went there for dinner and to enjoy the music played at 9pm on saturdays but given our experience we decided to just leave. The place seemed surprisingly busy though. It had to be for the music because I cant believe it was for the food. The place is very nice but they need to decide if they are a family restaurant, a sports bar or a club. The service was just as confused too. Twice someone elses meals were delivered to our table and it took over 10 minutes to get my soda refilled. Overall I was not impressed at all. My partners maragrita was tiny and way overpriced.
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Fadia Kebreau
Came on Mothers Day with my daughter. Ive heard great things about this place but cant say I had a great first time experience. I came in as a walk in and was told there would be a 30-40 mins wait time. I sat and waited with my 6 yrs old. I noticed folks were being seated and had not been there as long as us. After a little over and hour wait time the manager offered for anyone on the walk in list to sit at the bar. I expressed that I waited over the time expressed and needed a table since Im with a child and did not care to sit at the bar. He became defensive and expressed that they have had reservations for over two weeks. I pointed out the list that I am on had names crossed down below where I was listed and they have a separate list for reservations. Then I got a table. My waitress was much more attentive to her larger tables. She would not even me notice me trying to wave her down as she would scope the room. I had ordered a bottomless mimosa and had to literally get up to go find her before I could get a new one. The food itself was cold. I dont understand why such a long wait for cold buffet food. Dont waist your time coming here. I dont even understand why people I know would rave about this place. Maybe because they are white and Im black.
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Mark Moravits
his has to be one of the worst excuses for Mexican/Tex-Mex in Austin. Ive been to the downtown location--its decent. This one -- stay away. The service is where it starts. The last two times we went there was no host in site. We had to walk around the restaurant to find someone to seat us. This last time we went, we had to ask twice for our waiter to bring us chips and salsa (see below about the chips). On this same occasion, when the waiter brought our food, we didnt have flatware or napkins. We asked for them. The waiter, with immense attitude replied, "so the host didnt bring those when he seated you?". Does it look like he did, a*hole? The food is where it ends. Overpriced and tasting suspiciously of coming out of a frozen freezer bag. Two times ago the fajitas were lukewarm, but cooked, suggesting they had been re-heated. HEB brand canned charro beans have more flavor than theirs. And the biggest problem with all of this is the price. Their menu reads like theyre some upscale joint serving high end Mex. Not even close. Similarly, the drinks are underwhelming and similar to what youd get at Chilis, just way more expensive. Dont waste your time here.
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A Private User
A friend and I went for Happy Hour and I was excited to try it since it was my first time to visit Iron Cactus. We ordered drinks and appetizers, they were very reasonably priced. The waitress seemed very overwhelmed and from the get-go was very rude. To make a long story short the order came out wrong, the manager rudely said it was our fault, that we didnt order it right. Then the order came back the exact same wrong way after we told both the waitress AND the manager what we wanted. The manager was smirking as he told us they still werent sure what we wanted. By that point we just wanted to get out of there, we paid for our drinks since "there was nothing wrong with them" after the manager charged us full price for one of them. We had such a bad experience that we called the regional manager and he sent us a coupon for "buy one brunch, get one half off".......really......Needless to say, I will not be going back, try North X Northwest next door instead!
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Eric Daniel
Talk about a steady decline. I used to love to come to this place but over the last few yes its gotten so bad. Not just in the service but in the management and overall feel of the restaurant. The servers never seem to know whats going on and are never the same, management has turned over more that a pancake buffet, (this new manager names Andy I think, has a personality of a box and is a little scary) and the restaurant feels like itss stuck in the 90s. It just doesnt make sense that they are event still open with all the other Tex-Mex restaurants around the area that are sooo much better. Chuys, Maudies, Trudys, Lupe Tortilla and even Baby As are all within 1 mile of this place, do yourself a favor and go there. Hell, even Chipotle is a better option. Just on a side note... the next time you are there, go to the bar side and look up at the ceiling and notice all the dust and filth everywhere.
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Colin Sullender
The mediocrity of this place amazes me. I came here for dinner since I was in the area running errands. I will never be going back. From the apathetic service to the bland food, Iron Cactus scrapes the bottom of the barrel for Mexican food in Austin. Plus the layout of the dining area is extraordinarily awkward and results in random parties being seated alone in the middle of a room. We started with the House Margarita since it was still happy hour and were never offered a refill. The same happened with our chips + salsa. This was probably the result of the waitress being more interested in talking with other staff than waiting on her tables. I ordered the Chile Relleno Rustico, which had to be the blandest chile relleno Ive ever had anywhere, ever. Even the beans were lukewarm. Unless you like eating expensive food with no flavor, then you probably want to avoid this place.
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Kathryn Michaels
First, the good: the food was tasty. I had the steak fajitas & they were very good. Unfortunately, thats about the only good thing I have to say. I got there around 8 after the dinner crowd had left. I shouldve taken the hint when there was no one at the hostess station when I walked in. Long story short, the bartender was really inattentive--he kept leaving the bar for 5-10 minutes at a time. Granted, it was a Monday night & pretty slow, but Ive never seen a bartender just walk off like that. Also, it turned out to be karaoke night. Not the atmosphere I was expecting for dinner. Nobodys fault there, just not what I was expecting. Had I known, I wouldve gone somewhere else. After walking half a mile from my hotel to get there, I can guarantee that I wont be walking back for another visit while Im here.
