POTSDAM — Head down Raymond Street, a narrow side street in downtown Potsdam, and you can’t miss the Cactus Grill & Cantina.
It’s a big, boxlike building faced with Potsdam sandstone. A century ago it was the village’s waterworks. Today it’s a very popular Mexican restaurant and bar.
A decade ago, local restaurateurs Pam and Larry Hazen took a shell of a building and transformed it into what I’d call a theme restaurant.
Bare concrete floors and walls painted with south-of-the-border reptiles. A metal support column retrofitted to resemble a large floor-to-ceiling cactus. A cantina that, with a little imagination and a margarita or two, magically transports you to a bare-bones working man’s bar on a dusty side street in Tijuana.
There’s not a Mexican in sight. Not in the kitchen. Not on the wait staff. Not in the corporate office. But it doesn’t matter. They’re serving up tasty, zesty dishes and slushy Cuervo cocktails and ice-cold Coronas, and everyone’s having a good old time.
The cantina is a separate, good-sized room with a party atmosphere. Beers are iced up in an old metal sink. Small garage-sale-like tables with brightly painted chairs dot the room. A pool table and dart boards add to the ambience.
A Dos Equis pint, a raspberry margarita and two mixed drinks killed a $20 bill, and we’re off to the dining room on the other side of the building.
There must be seating for 100, and on a weekday night, there was hardly an empty table. It appears rumors of an economic slowdown have not reached Potsdam.
All the expected Mexican favorites are on the menu: burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, tostadas, chimichangas and fajitas, conveniently spelled out phonetically (en-che-la-da … chi-mee-chang-gas … fah-hee-tas) so even the greenest gringo can order with all the confidence and tongue of a real Mexican.
The traditional complimentary salsa and chips are very good — not too hot, just right. Fresh hand-diced tomatoes, red onion, jalapeños, cilantro and lime juice balanced nicely on homemade deep-fried multicolored tortilla chips.
Equally good was the guacamole, mashed avocado and garlic with visible specks of red onion and tomato with just a hint of heat. We got the large portion ($7.50) to pass around the table.
Chiles rellenos ($6.95) was an appetizer that could have easily passed for an entrée, it was so large.
One huge chile that filled the plate was stuffed with a tangy four-cheese and cilantro filling, battered and deep-fried, then covered with an unconventional raisin sauce. The sweetness of the sauce provided an interesting contrast to the mellow heat of the chile, adding a certain complexity to the dish.
We tried two of the three soups offered ($4.75 each), both excellent.
Black bean is often a vegetarian soup, but the Cactus version adds bacon, which gives it a nice flavor, along with onions, garlic and spices. It wasn’t really spicy at all, just thick and tasty, presented with a large dollop of sour cream.
The pork and chili “Cabo San Lucas” soup — sautéed pork simmered with green chiles and tomatillos — was a real winner. It had all the visual appeal of a frog in a blender, but was filled with wonderful flavors that kept us scooping up spoonful after spoonful.
Portobello and chicken quesadilla ($11.95) was made with chunks of very tasty mushrooms sautéed in garlic butter, strips of grilled chicken and shredded jack cheese, wrapped in a 12-inch soft tortilla shell folded half-moon style with sour cream and salsa alongside.
(The quesadilla is on the menu as portobello and steak. Our waitress had no problem having the kitchen substitute chicken for steak.)
A chimichanga is a flour tortilla rolled around a filling, ends tucked in, then deep-fried. We got the shrimp chimichanga they call the “Rosarita” ($12.95). There was no skimping on the shrimp, which were sautéed in olive oil with cilantro and lime juice. Lots of melted cheese, too. There was no mistaking the seafood taste in each bite, either.
Fajitas are fun. It’s a make-your-own deal. Your choice of meat and/or shrimp is mesquite-grilled with peppers and onions and sent out on a hot sizzle platter. A separate plate contains shredded lettuce and cheese and sour cream.
We got the chicken and shrimp fajita ($15.95). The meat and the tri-colored peppers and the shrimp were so tasty, we didn’t even wrap them in the soft tortilla provided — just gobbled them down directly from the sizzler. I’d go back for this in a second.
Skirt steak is generally not considered the tenderest cut of beef, but it is nonetheless tasty. Cactus offers a marinated, grilled skirt steak ($15.95) that lives up to its reputation.
The wood-smoked mesquite flavor permeated the meat, giving it an interesting dimension along with a nicely charred exterior. You get to choose from a number of sides including refried beans, black beans, Mexican rice or something you rarely see in a Mexican restaurant, fried jalapeños.
Other than the sides, I’d say it was by and large un-Mexican and more all-American.
Portions were plentiful. To-go containers were required all around.
We did manage to try one dessert, sharing a dish of fried ice cream ($5.50), vanilla ice cream rolled in crunchy granola, quickly deep-fried and drizzled with cinnamon honey sauce. It was a refreshing ending to the dinner, coming in such a large portion size it seemed to be made for four.
And the total cost of food for four came to $94 with tax, before tip.
Despite the fact that at any given time an onrush of college kids may overrun the restaurant, the Cactus doesn’t have the feel of a college-dominated bar and grill. It was filled with people of all ages — families with kids, college students, young professionals and university professors.
Our waitress, Cortnee, was friendly and attentive, perky and informative.
The entire operation was under the watchful eyes of senior Hazen employees Mary Ballan and Executive Chef Mike Hayes. Mary was seating and greeting people; Mike was supervising the kitchen crew.
They’re also responsible for overseeing the other Hazen-owned restaurants in Potsdam, Mama Lucia and Maxfields.
With the weather moderating, the Cactus will be opening its outdoor deck overlooking the Raquette River in the coming weeks. It would be a good time to stop by for an after-work beverage and a bite to eat.
You can contact Walter E. Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.
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