Cactus 3 - Iowa City

Absolutely AWFUL!!! Arrived around 6 PM and no one there so we thought oh score! Never have we been so wrong! We now realize why no one was there. Service was S-O S-L-O-W. Ordered Cuervo Gold margaritas and they tasted like they were in apitcher full of ice all afternoon....yuck. after telling the staff they explained to us that that is how these are with thegood tequila....and almost straight tequilla ...I 'm pushing 60 and they thought they would pull the wool over our eyes. So weordered regular margaritas. They tasted exactly the same! And most times when I order a $10 jumbo marg I walk away with atleast a nice little buzz but not this one....and half of my wife 's since she couldn 't drink it cuz it tasted so badly watereddown. The food arrived and after FINALLY getting silverware and napkins the food was cold and then I snapped at the waitressasking for a box to take mine home to warm it up so I could eat it....our Daughter did not even get what she ordered and we justleft that there along with my wife 's chimichanga that was not good enough to box up. The waitress told us a manager would bein later to discuss and offered no credit of any kind for the wrong order or the cold plate or the terrible marks. I was NOTgoing to wait around for a manager to show up so paid bill in full and told waitress she should find a better place ofemployment. The outdoor patio was filthy.....which attracted tons of Flies. The place left such a bad taste in my mouth thatI don 't see myself ever eating in downtown Iowa City again.....noticed dirty trashy sidewalks walking back to car. And one lastthing.....staff did not mask! ????

Service was fine. Red salsa not so fine. Meal was really delicious so it made up for the ok setting. We may have had a better time if we could have taken advantage of the driving menu.

I'm really impressed by the food and the service at Cactus 3!!!!! Best Mexican food in Iowa City. They made my order just how I wanted it!!! I will be back for sure!!!!

Brought my 11 year old son here and we both ordered a grande gold margarita. I love how family friendly this place is. Never an issue getting my little one a beverage. Even was able to get the kid's margarita in a sippy cup. The hospitality here is unbeatable. The shrimp fajitas gave me giardia once so probably would not recommend that but Cactus definitely deserves 5 stars for the child-friendly service.

I've eaten here in the past and things were adequate, but boy tonight really pushed that to bad. I sat down and was given a menu. When I said I wanted the Pollo en chipotle and pointed to it on the menu, my server said he needed to check if they had it.He then disappeared to the kitchen and despite my attemps to flag him and other staff down did not approach my table until my food ,that was never confirmed to be avaliable, was ready.In that time I never received a drink, chips, or even silverware despite other patrons getting them. I tried fixing this by flagging someone down. But no one noticed and I didn't feel it should be necessary for me to get up to the bar where the servers were congregated, or to shout across the restaurant.Eventually to my surprise food arrived. But not what I ordered, the menu item one above what I had pointed to on the menu, which i only knew because they never took it from me. An honest mistake but taken with everything else and how hungry I was I just ate it. After I finally flagged someone else down to get silverware as none was provided with my food.Once I was finally done eating I asked for the check. When my server delivered it the total was 10 dollars and some change. I handed him a 20 and was asked how much I'd like back. I considered the question as at this point I thought about not tipping at all. But I said I'd like 7 dollars back. Leaving approximately 2.50 as a tip or about 20-25% which I felt was more than fair. He apparently thought I meant he could keep 7 dollars (a 70% tip, which would be more than i would give for good service), as he gave me 4 and then walked back to the bar. I followed asked for the rest of my money and left.It was around 10:30pm when I came in and there was loud music playing. So I have to assume that was maybe part of the utter lack of understanding of what I was saying but I can say that if I didn't get off work late enough where they're one of the only places open I wouldn't ever go again. Even with that in mind I'll probably never go again. Unless your going to drink I'd say it's not worth going.Tldr; horrible service, reasonable price, bad atmosphere, decent food.