Cactus Ya Ya

Grabbed some take out with my boyfriend here the other evening, sat for a drink while we waited my margarita was nice and stiff and service by Brittany was prompt and friendly ! it was decent for taking Mexican out but definitely will have to dine in!

It was horrible. The service was bad, the food was absolutely terrible, my child got sick… all around terrible experience.
If you go, do not get the hamburger or shrimp quesadillas. The shrimp is the small frozen stuff sold in bulk packages and I swear the cheese is velveeta. I’m not sure how you mess up a hamburger, but this place sure did.

I love this place, the food is excellent and I always stop to eat there when I am in Washington. The service isn’t the best (truly), and it’s terribly loud in the dining room, which would probably be a bigger deal than it is if the food was bad, but it’s not.

Drinks are good here but for one their guacamole is pre packaged and they don’t even have fresh avocado to sell with anything on the side (and this is a Mexican restaurant!) Secondly, we went stayed for over an hour after happy hour only to be told we couldn’t get a to-​go box. Very frustrating, I can understand if I was trying to order to go but I just wanted my left overs. Pretty ridiculous and petty to me.

Great food and great service. The portions are enormous and easily shareable, so bring a friend or a doggy bag. You will leave with a smile and some leftovers.

Good food, great drink selection… above all we come here for the atmosphere. A dimly lit, almost dark atmosphere similar to the Matador downtown without all the noise and crowds. Have never waited more than a few minutes to be sat nor to be waited on. Have been here at least half a dozen times with a pleasant experience each time. The prices are also pretty reasonable for what you get. I usually spend a little less than $ 40 out the door for my wife and I to have enough food and drink to our satisfaction. My only recommendation is open another one in Oregon (Gresham area) because it’s a bit of a drive for us!

No take-​home boxes allowed for items ordered off the happy hour menu.
Really? Unless it was a buffet, if I paid for it, I should be allowed to take home my left-​overs if I want to.
I barely had two bites of my food, I was mostly there for drinks, but I wanted to save the rest for later.
We asked for boxes and were rebuffed by the server. It was a shock. So we asked to speak to the manager, expressing our distress to her. She said, yeah, she agreed, it was ridiculous that they aren’t allowed to hand out boxes for happy hour menu items, but the owner is just kind of a jerk like that.
Cool. Yeah, won’t be patronizing again.

40 min wait for food because of a large party. Rice was hard and crunchy, beans were crusty and dry. Food looked like it was under a heat lamp for a long time. Shredded chicken lacked flavor. Seriously for the money you spend a chipotle burrito smokes their burritos hands down. Actually just skip this place all together and get chipotle or qdoba.
Tip for the chef is to slow cook the chicken in taco seasoning and a packet of ranch dressing mix with a can of turkey gravy and fill the can with water and add that. Slow cook in a crock pot on low for 5 hours or high for 3 hours. Shred and be ready for better reviews.

Been going here for years, Foods great. Service is amazing :)

This was our first time eating here– and Unilocal helped us find a decent Mexican place.
Their chips and salsa were AMAZING!!! Be careful you don’t get filled on that before your food comes!
I ordered the Halibut Southwestern Enchilada with pinto beans and rice, and it was so good! As a matter of fact, it was SO delicious looking that I delved right in and forgot to take a pic!!!
My brother ordered the steak chimichanga and that was delicious as well. The only thing he said they could improve on is the need for it to be crunchy.
The service was good and the environment quite noisy, so perfect for kids cause you don’t have to worry about them not yelling or crying.
Go check it out!

Sorry guys — dropped to poor service. Waitress’s walked past our table multiple times without a greeting. And there was one waitress that had her boyfriend or some creepy guy that sat at a table for longer than we were there & when we left he was STILL there. She sat at the table, talked to him more than she talked to her tables …
Where are the managers? Is this appropriate?

Mmmmm. So yum! My favorite place for mexican food or maybe I should call it tex mex.
I’ve been coming here for years and they have great food, atmosphere, service, happy hour and drinks!
Drinks are always stiff, get a marg or the Trouble. So good.
I tend to always get the peanut chicken ya ya rolls and an avocado ranch side salad. My go to.
The ya ya rolls are to die for, I crave these often. The peanut chicken ones are the best. The shrimp ones are good too! Get double of the black bean salsa versus the red salsa. The black bean salsa is incredible.
Best fish tacos in town I think. Those are on happy hour with the peanut chicken ya ya rolls and I will switch it up between the fish tacos and the rolls. The batter is good and you can get hard or soft shell. I go soft and the sauce they put on them is so delicious.
I’ve had their quesadilla, their Reuben (yes they have a Reuben) and their chimichonga. All good. You pretty much can’t go wrong but I have my favs.
If anyone is new to town and want Mexican, I guide them here. It’s a fun little spot, not a chain and you will get great service and some good eats and drinks.
Sit outside by the fire or inside in the bar. Good for small parties (10 or less) and casual spot. I seem to go after a good workout. Wish I could give it more than 5 stars.
*Their bar is small so for HH its always packed. Get their early or towards the end.
*Happy hour is daily 3−6pm I think.

It was good not amazing but good service was great. We were trying to do happy hour but it was too loud and crowed so we decided to do something more quieter !
Food was ok I order a quesadilla and its was ok defiantly not what I expected my husband order a chicken sandwich and it looked great and he loved it I in the Other hand didn’t love my food but it wasn’t terrible seems like a place w lots of locals so I loved that but again definitely not so good food .
Also if u don’t sit in the bar area u won’t be able to get happy hour FYI

Wonderful Mexican «Bistro» find in Vancouver, WA. Cactus YaYa. Menu is Mexican on one side and Mexican fusion on the other. Donna chose a beef chimichunga. Beef is slowed cook and tender fall apart yummy. I had penne pasta with bay shrimp in creamy sauce with Pico DE Gallo on side to stir in as needed. Outstanding. They also do a peanut chicken ya ya roll made with flour tortilla and comes with peanut sauce and ginger soy dipping sauce. Unusual and so good.
Service was great. Refills on drinks immediately as needed. Prices very reasonable.
We will definitely be back.

Unilocalers, gotta love ‘em. People seem to have a love hate relationship with Cactus.
Everything is fresh. No it’s not Mexican food. Yes it is very loud. Yes the drinks will bite you in your a**.
Always busy, always fun. You go for the social aspect & great happy hour prices.
If you don’t like those things, then it’s not your place :)

I must be like a broken record to anyone that’s read any of my other reviews of Mexican restaurants in east Vancouver. Once Los jalapenos left 164^th, my wife and I have been on a hunt for decent Mexican in the neighborhood. Cactus Yaya’s is not it.
First off they are not a true Mexican restaurant, they are a Southwest fusion restaurant. I believe what they have fused is Mexican, a blind grandmothers recipes, Tex-​mex, and prison food. I cannot believe how many reviews say their happy hour food is good. I question how much these people drink prior to eating. Don’t take my word for it, head to Cactus Yaya’s, just make sure there is room at peace health to get your stomach pumped afterwards.

This place has great food love their happy hour menu (daily 3 – 6 and 9-​closing) and great regular menu.
It’s a nice place with a few TV’s for sports but can get very loud.
Overall nice place year round.
Enjoy your next visit.

After sampling almost every happy hour spot in East Vancouver this is my favorite. There are no drink specials but a large selection of happy hour eats. The bar is awesome! The backdrop is a large porcelain bathtub filled with ice, cold pint glasses and bottled beer. Sweet! The bar regulars are very regular and very friendly. Every bartender there is standout amazing. Adina, Jennifer, Leah and Kayla make sure that this is a «first name basis» bar and seem to know the names of everyone who frequent the place including me, and I’ve only been going there a month or so. The interior seems like it is always changing up and feels very «homey». Nice lighting and comfortable seating are a huge plus for me.
The food is Southwest American or as those of us who have spent any time in the Southwest call it: «White-​Boy Mexican» food. This isn’t a disparagement, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everything I’ve eaten there. The peanut sauce they serve with the Ya Ya rolls is freakin’ amazing! I love the skewers and the Caesar salad on the happy hour menu and the fish tacos are epic!
When I moved to Vancouver I was afraid I might be stuck going to places like Olive Garden or Red Robin. Thank you CYY for giving me a home away from home and saving me from chain restaurant hell!

I read through the reviews as we waited for our food… First off-​HEY MORONS! This is Southwestern style food, not Mexican food. This is what to expect at a spot like this.
Crowd-​Semi yuppie but not snobby.
Food– this is my second visit, there will be a third but it will never be a favorite. My onions were still rung together but cut in chunks. I had to peel them apart before throwing them on my taco. Tomatoes were large chunks.
Service– not bad but not professional level either, think, decent kid working her/​his way through school. The service is good enough.
Cocktail Menu– it appears that Absolut bought their way on to this one. Nothing creative going on here. Nothing local.
Overall-​this joint is okay. It’s clean, the folks are friendly. Cheers all. Thanks.

Nice service. Really poor food. Thin tortilla chips added to sweet salsa makes it a bad start. Smelling the fish dishes on other tables sinks you a little lower. Having to customize a burrito to a point of being edible was rough.
To cap it out no Mexican beers on tap and the knuckle sized glob of fat in my burrito was addressed with a little frown. Sorry Vancouver. You have to roll into PDX for some flavor.