Lunch at Cactus in Bellevue

Yesterday my husband and I drove to the eastside to try the new Cactus in Bellevue Square.  It was the 4th of July so we also wanted to check out the Family Forth at the park across from the mall.  Cactus is southwestern cuisine and has been around since 1990.  They are a local business with other locations around the Seattle area.  Back in 2006 we ate at the Cactus on Alki Beach while we dined outside and watched the sunset.  I remember gorging on a huge chicken burrito with all the sides and loving it.  At Bellevue's location all I felt was a very cooperate feel, like I was at Cheesecake Factory or BJ's.  The service was also very slow at first.  We waited and waited for someone to come by and greet us and take our drink orders.  By the time our server came over we were ready to order our whole meal and I had to beg him to bring us some chips and salsa immediately since I was so hungry.  After that the service was fine and the food tasted pretty standard.  I left Cactus stuffed and satisfied and sometimes that's all that matters. 

 I drank a Strawberry Lemonade and my husband had some coffee.  We practically devoured the chips and salsa before our food arrived.  We liked the spicy salsa. 

 I ordered the Smoked Chicken Quesadilla.  It had bacon, poblano chile rajas, buttermilk crema, and mixed greens with a cilantro– lime vinaigrette.  I think the cheese was jack which was just ok.  It was tasty but sort of plain as there was no sour cream, salsa or guacamole to dip the quesadilla in. 

 My husband ate the House Chimichanga with Chicken.  It was a crisp flour tortilla with jack cheese and green chile sauce with pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream. It came with Spanish rice and cumin black beans.  This Chimichanga was the hit.  I had a bite and wished I would have also ordered it. 

 In the lobby of Cactus they have what looks like a Tequila room where all the liquor is housed.  This looked cool and caught my attention right away.