Cactus Valley Restaurant & Cantina
The 2014 Dining Divas are, from left, Aryana Mosley, Nina Ha, Norma Diaz, Amanda Reade and Tanya Hutson.
CACTUS VALLEY RESTAURANT & CANTINA ¡Olé! New owners bring new life to Mexican gem with authentic, delicious food Photos by Greg Nichols
E
ach Sunday afternoon, Nadia Nuñez and her husband, Rigo, would take their 2-year-old son to their favorite Mexican restaurant, Cactus Valley in northwest Bakersfield. New to the United States from Sonora, Mexico, they would order mouth-watering plates of marinated beef fajitas, cheese melted over enchiladas drizzled with sauce and a table full of dishes that reminded them of home. That 2-year-old boy, Eder, is now 20. And these days, you can find him working with his parents, who are now the owners of the same restaurant they frequented for nearly two decades. With a fresh coat of yellow and green paint on the outside, but the same authentic Mexican food on the inside, Cactus Valley Restaurant & Cantina offers six separate eating areas, patio seating, kids-eat-free Mondays, senior discount Wednesdays and daily happy hour specials. The restaurant’s updated décor is rustic, Tex-Mex western with new booths, brighter colors and additional lighting for a more effervescent feel. It’s family friendly with the exception of Thursday nights, from 8 p.m. to midnight, when a DJ spins music from every genre catering to the crowd’s musical
Address: 4215 Rosedale Highway Phone: 633-1948 Facebook: Cactus Valley Mexican Restaurant Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday to Saturday Hungry for more? Check out more food photos on bakersfieldlife.com.
predilection (no cover charge). The waiters and waitresses, all fluent in Spanish, make the entire dining experience feel less Bakersfield, and more Mexico City.
APPETIZERS Nina on the mini-chimichangas: When it comes to chimichangas, you have to take a siesta on healthy eating and just go for it! Cactus Valley’s mini-changas are light, flour tortillas that envelop flavorful shredded beef deep-fried to a crispy nugget of yum, which you can then top with pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream. I usually like my food scald-your-fingers hot, but these babies were delicious even tepid. The mini-chimichangas are part of the restaurant’s appetizer sampler, but if you’re like me, you’ll find yourself reaching for the mini-changas time and again. Norma on the quesadillas: There’s not much to a quesadilla, but to have a savory one, it all starts with the cheese, like mozzarella. It was tasty and perfectly cooked, just on the edge of crispy. When topped off with some fresh guacamole and Cactus Valley’s delicious salsa, it’s all very appetizing. Tanya on the flautas: The flautas in the finger food platter were delicious; each one was a small gem of deepfried goodness. The flour tortilla was crispy, not greasy, and the ground beef filling was not too spicy for those of us who can’t take the heat! They were served with fresh guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo. I really had to restrain myself from eating all of the flautas, but I knew I had to save room for a great entrée.
ENTRÉES Aryana on the garlic shrimp: Camarones al mojo de ajo, also known as Mexican garlic shrimp, is a dish that’s sim-
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