Cactus Club Cafe

Pretty good atmosphere and food. The service is well above average, the only thing I would say is that the area is rather small and crowded on weekends but if you like that, this is a great place

I’ve always wanted to try it, and I had the opportunity in Calgary. The food is amazing, we began with the yam fries for appetizers which was really good, I had the butternut squash ravioli which was so decadent and rich (absolutely lived up to its reputation) and my husband had the Cajun chicken sandwich which he absolutely loved (and he’s REALLY picky when it comes to food) and I finished with the white chocolate cheesecake (which wasn’t all that special, to be honest) .
Our waitress was very friendly and nice (even though we got there at about 11 pm) she did not seem in a rush at all to have us order and then out the door.
I LOVE it’s open late!!! One of my favourite things about restaurants, seeing as how I’m a night person I really appreciate places that open to late hour .
But I gotta say, this is now one of my favourite places and I’ll be DEFINITELY going back (this time I’ll stay local and go to the Edmonton branch).

Stopped in for lunch with the family. The place was busy so there was a short wait for a table. TVs were playing hockey so the time passed quickly.
Service was just right. Not too little and not too intrusive.
Food was cooked perfectly. I had the Hunter Chicken. The chicken was cooked but moist, the potatoes and green beans were also cooked perfectly.
Other than the cramped parking, it was good first visit to Cactus Club Café.

I visited the Cactus Club last night and found it to be a delightfully classy, stylish and modern restraunt with an energetic atmosphere without being too in-​your-​face. They offer a selection of classic North American and international Asian and Mexican favourites, artfully and tastefully prepared, giving an upscale vibe that at the same time won’t break the bank. The courteous and attentive young staff were exceptionally helpful, accommodating and kind to my disabled dining partner, making a potentially awkward dining experience easy and pleasant for us. I have to highly recommend Rob’s Flatbread, a tasty and unique combination of flavours that puts an interesting spin on a familiar dish without being too foreign to the average diner’s palette. The muzak leaves something to be desired, but overall I had a great experience at the Cactus Club. I’ll be returning and bringing my friends with me!

Great meal. Small and busy place. Great food topped off with the best service we have jas in a while shout out to our waiter mark

The Cactus Club Café is one of the very few franchise restaurants that consistently delivers an excellent dining experience. I think one of the reasons they’ve remained successful is by not expanding too quickly, and instead taking a controlled and balance approach to keep quality intact. Far too often I see the quality of chain restaurants diminish in a fast pursuit of a quick dollar, but the Cactus Club Café really has kept a focus on their food and service throughout their Journey. For those who don’t know they actually took on Iron Chef Rob Feenie in 2008 as their executive chef and food concept architect, they then went on to add Top Chef Canada winner Matthew Stowe to their arsenal as a product development chef. The results are clear, as the quality of food is top notch for a chain restaurant!
On our most recent visit at the Macleod location there was even a feature menu for the Calgary Stampede, I was happy to try the feature burger which delivered a mouth watering experience that I passively filed in my brain’s «Top 10 Burger» department. My fiancée had a burger off their regular menu and echoed the same satisfaction I did. Their menu is comparable to Earls or Moxies but the food is much better. They have a good selection of beers and cocktails as well.
Unfortunately my fiancée’s burger came out with a piece of wax paper still on the burger; they forgot to take it off! Rather than stomp our feet and make a scene (we’re civilized haha ;)), we kindly let the server know. We were in a bit of a rush so she continued on with the same burger, but the server did not hesitate to apologize and immediately offer us a new one. When we declined the manager even came over to try and offer the same and reiterate the apology, he even went as far as to communicate the mistake back to the kitchen given the rare occurrence. Anyone who has read my reviews before knows that I’m a very fair person when it comes to mistakes, and the team here handled this flawlessly. Nothing is worse than lack of accountability, they were completely accountable and did everything to make the situation right, and when we declined they took it off the bill! That’s top notch service! The rest of the service was impeccable as well, their hostesses are always great and our server did an awesome job throughout our dining experience. Definitely felt accommodated and well looked after!
The restaurant itself is very modern and beautiful, this is consistent with any Cactus Club I’ve ever been to. Honestly I don’t have anything bad to say about the Cactus Club Café, they’re a great restaurant all around. They’re’ regularly recognized as one of the best managed companies in Canada, one of the best workplaces and a top employer for young people. Other restaurants should take note and would do well to learn from their success! They even focus on environmental sustainability, offer formal benefits, encourage training/​education and pay for chefs pursuing their Red Seal certification. All of this translates into the best chain restaurant experience Canada has to offer! See you soon, cheers!

Great lunch stop with a wide variety on the menu. Staff is friendly and atmosphere is inviting.

Went there today for a nice lunch with a girlfriend, the first hostess that greeted us took another table in and mentioned with a smile that she would be right back, the second hostess who came up to help was visibly annoyed that we had requested the patio on a warm sunny Saturday afternoon, we waited about 10 – 15 minutes and were taken out to a lovely table.
Our waitress was quiet but pleasant and brought out our drinks quickly. The only comment that I had was that the stem of my sangria glass was quite sticky, before I had even touched it. She took our order and within no time we were taking our first bites of their potato skins. It wasn’t until my friend noticed that there was bacon on them when we had requested otherwise that there was a problem. As two vegetarians you can imagine our dismay, but the waitress and the manager both apologized for the mistake and took away the offending food and brought us new potato skins immediately. The whole situation was handled very well and I commend the waitress for realizing so quickly that something was wrong, and the manager for helping as well. Our second course was the garden burger with a Caesar salad. The Caesar was covered in freshly grated Parmesan cheese, bonus points for that, and not too much-​not too little dressing. The veggie burger itself however was to die for. Juicy, saucy, delicious, everything you want a burger to be. I find as a vegetarian, people make veggie burgers for the health conscious with a brown whole wheat bun and an assortment of vegetables that shouldn’t belong anywhere near a burger. This burger was the wrap your mouth around and sink your teeth into burger I have been waiting for. PERFECT. my friend and I raved about this burger for 8 hours following our meal.
Some final notes, another manager stopped by while we were eating our veggie burgers to make sure those we done nicely and they took care of part of our bill for the mistake about the potato skins. Very nice gesture and one that will keep me coming back.
The only negatives about this whole experience was the seemingly unpleasant girl at the door, and a sticky sangria glass.
Will most definitely be returning, thank you cactus club for the amazing food and service.

I really do love this place, unfortunately I found the Macleod Trail location not up to snuff with the Barlow location.
We came in for a late lunch on Tuesday and the place was packed, it is much smaller than Barlow but surprisingly we were able to get a table for two pretty quick.
Started off with two Caesar’s and I ordered the 4 mushroom 7 oz sirloin steak and my husband ordered the 12oz peppercorn New York strip. Heavy for lunch, yes, but we skipped breakfast and it was my birthday!
First I’ve noticed in my recent visits that the cloth napkins have disappeared and have been replaced with paper, I really think this move takes Cactus down a notch. Not a big deal. Secondly their Caesar’s here are not prepared the same as Barlow. They were garnished with a pickled green bean here, Barlow has this beautiful skewer of mini peppers, onions and olives and a lime wedge-​which is the main reason I order the Caesar from here. Disappointed that it came lacking that little skewer of pickled goodness. Also it seemed over iced, by the time our meals came, it was a watered down significantly.
Our mains arrived in a reasonable amount of time but immediately my husband noticed that his steak was not 12oz, he is a beast and knows his steak. Mine came out fine but it was lacking in salt. He waves our waitress down and asks her if his steak in indeed the 12 oz peppercorn NY strip… she was a sweet girl and immediately apologized and said «I’m sorry I got you the 9oz peppercorn SIRLOIN!»
My husband and I are not unreasonable people and really, 3 more ounces of steak wasn’t going to ruin our lunch but he is not a fan of the sirloin cut; less fat=less flavour. He told her not to worry about it and we finished our meal. Our plates were bussed by another waitress and our bill came, I would have liked to share a desert with the man as a small celebratory birthday sweet but we were never offered a desert menu so we just paid the bill and left.
I would have given a higher star rating if the waitress was on her game as the food was good but the Caesar’s were just ok and the paper napkins remind me of a cafeteria.
Might just stick with Cactus on Barlow.

Food was awesome, i do suggest burgers and chicken as well… the belini was great also

Good looking waitresses, friendly service and good food. Disappointed with the drinks, though. Old fashioned bourbon was not done well (just tasted like pure whiskey on ice). Caesar had too much clamato juice.

I came to this place with some coworkers for lunch and in general it was…, let’s say less than enjoyable and the price/​value ratio was very low.
In general this place try to have that feeling of modern young professional clientele type of restaurant similar to other in the same line, but this one far from been great.
The Good:
Well we could consider that overall environment it s OK, as it is typical in this kind of ($$ to $$$) restaurant they hire nice girls as waiters, so we may consider it as a plus. The food looks good, very well presented.
The Bad:
1.- The waiter was kind of pushy and I felt like she was annoyed because we had to wait for the entire group to show up to start ordering.
2.- The space was very limited, the space was crammed, and the chairs were not comfortable
3.- The setup to fit eleven of us was poorly done, therefore the waiters had to lean on our shoulders to deliver the food to some of us and using some of us to pass the plates back and forth.
4.- Prices: the meal prices are not great and do not have a lunch menu.
5.- The meal: I ordered a rare tuna sandwich. What I got was a nice looking sandwich with some kind of white fish over cooked outside with some burned parts and way passed rare inside (it did not look or tasted tuna at all). According to the description, in the menu, one of the ingredients was cilantro…, then I though this must be very interesting combination, I found one single leave of cilantro in the sandwich; absolutely disappointing.
The Ugly:
After all the unpleasant experience with my food and the fact that I had to be the waiter’s assistant; when the bill came, and I was charge with a drink which I had even ordered and even though I complained about, I ended up giving the remaining change as tip, which I regret to do

5 stars just cause im never dissapointed here… service is great! You gotta try the 4 mushroom steak !!! My favorite

I tried this place for the first time while visiting Calgary earlier this month. Although there was a little bit of wait to be seated, it was worth it. Me, and my girlfriends, decided to have a Friday’s night out (June 6^th) and we could not be happier with the food and service. Our server Jay was very friendly, helpful, with a great knowledge about food and drinks. Thank you, Jay!
I had a great time and I will come back next time I am visiting Calgary.

Went in for some drinks with friends after an event in the south end. Had not yet been to this location.
Dim, classy space, interesting menu choices topped off with good service.
Fridays are $ 1 off one type of beer and also martinis. I had 2 martinis and found them very average.
All of the food coming out of the kitchen looked good and I have no doubt that it tastes just as good here as the other location in the NE.
Our waitress was always coming around making sure we had what we needed without being a pest.
Bathrooms were cool too. After a couple of drinks, figuring out a «foot flush» is an interesting concept!

Food has always been great, we go there often. The wait can be long as the restaurant is pretty busy but the food never dissapoints.
Much better than Earls/​Moxies etc.

Great service, but pass on the wonton soup… otherwise, good menu selection.

I like Cactus Club — I really do. Biased? Don’t care, it’s a good place anyway. Strange combination of noisiness and coziness.
Food quality — professional. Portions — on a smallish side, but still ok. Price — biting, but not that bad. On the outside it looks way more expensive, and it’s a pleasant discovery when the bill arrives.
Service was always swift, polite, helpful. I was dropping in without previous notice, yet there was always a nice table for me, or even a booth, despite the crowd inside — and with minimal wait, if any.
Parking was rather tight, that’s a negative, but probably the only negative I have about Cactus Club. Otherwise, it’s a totally good to go place, in my opinion.

Just because it’s a chain does not mean we should go bashing a restaurant, or enter with the preconceived notion that it will be ordinary, or unimaginative or average.
Cactus Club Café is actually none of those things. Their menu is expansive, imaginative, and the food is expertly prepared. The service has been great both times I have been there.
I have tried their double braised pineapple hoisin short rib, and it was delicious. The meat was braised very well. soft and tender. And the pineapple /​korean chili sauce was a great match. It came with a heaping side of mashed potatoes.
Their wine list is actually quite good also. They have the regular ones like Mission Hill and Kim Crawford (neither of them are ones I would order), and they also have some unique ones like ‘Feenie goes haywire’ and Masi Amarone, etc. I noticed several on there that I want to try on future visits.
Cactus Club is a great place for dates, small groups etc if you’re near Chinook! It is
Review #26 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge 2012

I came here for celebratory drinks and to share some appetizers.
Sangria was on special so I ordered that and it was definitely delicious, I like how they put bellini slush with it. it was very delicious and better than sangria I have enjoyed fairly recently.
We ordered the chicken fingers with yam fries and calamari to share between the 3 of us. When the order was brought it was cute as they had actually split up the chicken fingers into 3 separate plates with the fries and separate sauces for each of us. Then I noticed how small each chicken finger was and we had been given regular fries.
No big deal, we ate them.
The calamari has lots of other things thrown into it, battered jalapenos, red peppers, various other unrecognizable vegetables, but the plate was mainly discarded batter and it just wasn’t very good. They give you two different sauces with this dish a tzatziki and a kind of red pepper aioli. I could barely pick up the tiny pieces of what squid there was to get sauce on it.
Nice to have options I guess.
Our server didn’t notice that we had not got the yam fries and we were still charged for them on our bill.
Food was really, pretty mediocre, but I will slurp back more of that sangria anytime!
Review #16 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge