This week our search for the best tacos in Chatt Town brought us to El Cactus Mexican Grille.
Okay, technically it’s in Fort Oglethorpe off Battlefield Parkway, but it’s a place I frequently dine at.
It’s next to the Super Walmart that has the Smart Style inside where Tiffany cuts and styles my hair. Each time I get my haircut, I stop in El Cactus for my weekend frozen Margarita and lunch.
This is a mid-size restaurant, with booths and wooden tables. A small bar in the corner has high stool seating and big screen TV’s hang on the walls tuned into the soccer game of the day.
On a Sunday this place gets packed after the church down the street lets out, but the service is fast, the waiters are friendly and courteous, and the wait is never that long.
This is one of those places where the menu is about seven pages long, listing appetizers, lunch specials, combo platters, A La Carte items, desserts, nachos, quesadillas, several seafood plate specials, steak options, pork options, fajitas, chicken plates, nacho choices, drink specials, burritos, tacos, tamales, enchiladas, chimichangas and salads.
Whew!
They have Mexican Street tacos, three to an order served with a side of refried beans. You can pick either steak, chicken, Mexican sausage, carnitas or shredded beef. They also have real Al Pastor Mexican street tacos with chunks of pineapple and well marinated pork with a side plate of the cilantro and onions and red tomatillo sauce so you can add as little or as much to your liking.
The Al Pastor tacos were the first I tried when I found El Cactus about four years ago. Those bits of pineapple provide the sweetness that tames the spicy sauce and they’re incredibly delicious.
The salsa verde brings the perfect amount of heat and the guacamole and tomatoes cool your palate.
Another menu favorite of mine is their entomatadas. It’s three corn tortillas stuffed with grilled chicken covered in their green tomato sauce served with rice, guacamole, lettuce and tomatoes. It’s basically their version of my favorite enchilada Suiza. The salsa verde brings the perfect amount of heat and the guacamole and tomatoes cool your palate.
While our search for the best tacos in Chatt Town continues there is one thing at El Cactus that is the best I’ve found – their guacamole Casero. You all know I order guacamole everywhere I go unless it’s not on the menu. Hands down El Cactus has the best guacamole.
This past weekend I went to El Cactus after finally finishing my Christmas shopping. It had been almost a year since I dropped in to El Cactus but the first two things I ordered were the guacamole and my strawberry frozen Margarita.
The guacamole serving is massive. As big as the entrée plate it’s served on. It has the perfect amount of lime, but if you want a little more, they offer a lime wedge with their serving. It has a great hint of spice from the diced jalapenos. The cilantro is finely minced, and the tomatoes and onions come together with the jalapeno like the perfect pico-de-gallo blended with the freshly cut avocados.
The guacamole was heavenly. I knew it would be filling so I ordered two American style beef tacos off their Al La Carte selection and that was enough to fill me up. Those beef tacos were stuffed with queso fresco and beef and just a sprinkling of lettuce.
They were fantastic. The beef was delicate and seasoned perfectly.
I saw my server take what appeared to be a taco the size of a teenager’s shoe to someone’s table. I asked him what that was. He said it was their new way of serving a tacos salad. Instead of making the tortilla into a bowl shape, they make it into the shape of a massive taco shell and stuff it with either beef or chicken and top it with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream.
Guess what I’ll be ordering on my next visit.
El Cactus Mexican Grille
- 90 Battlefield Station Drive, Fort Oglethorpe, GA
- (706) 944-4985
- https://www.facebook.com/elcactusmexicangrille
- $$ - $$$
What’s your favorite taco place and why? Send me an email at Pattyl@brewermediagroup.com