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Restaurant Talk: Cactus Valley on Rosedale Highway
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Posted by lward Thu Dec 16, 2004 15:56:00 PST
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0 responses 0 comments It's a Friday night. He'll look over the menu but always order the enchiladas suizas. She, in turn, will play coy but without fail settle on the chicken fajitas. By the time the check comes, they will have enjoyed two margaritas each.

Mary Carrisalez, who owns Cactus Valley along with her husband, Sef, knows her customers and can describe in detail their endearing predictability.

"I have an 11-year-old golfer who insists on coming in every week for his steak fajitas - he cleans his plate. And children who love their bean burritos will bring their parents in like clockwork," said Mary, chuckling.

Some times she wishes her customers weren't such creatures of habit.

"Our most popular item is the simple taco and cheese enchilada with rice and beans ($6.25). But customers think it's so good, they're scared to try anything different," Mary said, adding that the San Francisco Bay and spinach enchiladas wouldn't disappoint.

The Carrisalezs have been at their location on Rosedale Highway for eight years. They moved from their old location on Rosedale and Calloway when the rent became too high, and were initially very sad to leave - as were their regular customers.

"It was 8:30 p.m., we were ready to leave, and they were still sitting in the booths. It was hard," said Mary. But she and Sef made the most of the new location, which once housed 16 offices, gutting it and creating an adobe-style interior. They've benefited from their proximity to the downtown area and hotels.

"And people in the Northwest have been good to us. We've done well," she said, noting the many people who have birthdays, wedding rehearsal dinners - even funeral gatherings - at Cactus Valley.

Though Mary hails from Imperial Valley, Sef is from Bakersfield and worked locally as a bartender for all the "big houses," as Mary refers to them, like the old Bakersfield Inn and Stockdale and Bakersfield country clubs.

It was Mary who convinced him to open his own place. "I told him if he had a bar under a tree he would have a following," said Mary.

The food is left to Chef Luz, who cooks things "the Mexican way," and makes tamales with chile verde.

Breakfast is served all day at the restaurant, including huevos rancheros, carne machaca and chorizo and eggs. Menudo is available most days.

In the mood for an appetizer? Choose from regular nachos ($5.50), beer and bean dip ($5.95), described as chorizo, beans, ranchera sauce and cheese, and a finger food platter ($6.95).

Soups, salads and tostados range from the gazpacho soup studded with diced vegetables, olive oil, oregano and tomato juice ($4.95), and a bowl of cactus soup ($2.95), young cactus leaves simmered in a blend of New Mexico chile pods and spices.

Diners can choose from build-your-own combo dinners, the San Francisco Bay enchiladas ($11.95), filled with crab meat and jumbo shrimp, the chile verde burrito ($7.95), served with rice and beans and topped with chile verde sauce and melted cheese, and Mexican favorites like grilled cactus ($6.95) and fish tacos ($7.50).

Specialty dinners on the menu include scampi a la Mexico City ($10.95), eight large shrimp sautéed with sliced button mushrooms in a delicate blend of olive oil, red chile pasilla strips, fresh garlic and a hint of red apple cider served with white rice, steamed broccoli and pico de gallo, and pollo emparrillado ($9.95), a tender marinated chicken breast grilled and served with crispy potato rounds, rice and beans with one cheese enchilada.

Desserts include flan ($2.95) and fried ice cream ($3.25). And if Bobby doesn't like steak fajitas, combos with rice and beans or French fries plus dessert are available on the Cactus Kids' Menu for those 10 and under.

Cactus Valley
4215 Rosedale Highway
633-1948
Hours: 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
The banquet room seats 80.
Extra parking is available behind the restaurant.

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