Step into the Cactus Zone for modern Mexican food

Looking for a cool little place to have some very atypical Mexican food? Then check out Cactus Zone, 1025 W. Main Street, in Sleepy Hollow.

Cactus Zone has only been open for a little over a month. It is a family-owned business that uses authentic recipes to bring Mexican dishes to the area.
The uncommon appearance from the outside will give you a hint of what is in store for you. Once inside, you enter a modern, eclectic room with a U-shaped bar dominating the center.

A blackboard greets you with the specials of the evening. The bartender/waitress announced that my friend Marlene and I could sit anywhere. We chose a table near the windows and settled in with a menu that had just the right amount of offerings (with descriptions) that didn’t take 10 minutes to read.
Starting off with mojitos, we also ordered the evening’s special appetizer. Out came three little bowls of homemade salsa and warm, fresh chips. We chose and devoured cilantro mango, tomatillo crudo, and cuatro chilies salsas.

Sipping our drinks, we scanned the rest of the menu. If you are looking for the usual Mexican food, don’t bother coming here. Street tacos are offered. Fillings include wild mushroom, braised creamy chicken, and Mexican beef pot roast. Dinner platters followed. We passed up the burritos and quesadillas and read about creamy chicken with garlic spinach, barbocoa ¬– which is like Mexican pot roast – and tortilla crusted tilapia. I ordered the Barbocoa and Marlene had the tilapia.

My platter arrived with a generous serving of barbocoa with grilled onions and green and yellow peppers, a very unique and delicious serving of cilantro rice, black beans, pico de gallo, and sour cream. On the side were three soft and warm corn tortillas.

Marlene’s plate came with tortilla-crusted fish served over a bed of warm spinach and included a cabbage slaw, cilantro rice, and sour cream. She also had three soft and warm tortillas on the side. The cilantro rice was lightly tinged green because it was cooked in cilantro and was light and fluffy. The black beans were mild and not soft and mushy.

The beef platter is $10.99 and the fish platter is $11.99. We had just the right amount of food, which was served on simple square white plates and prepared in a healthy way.

The restaurant can only be described as eclectic. The window coverings were minimal and the art on the wall did not include the usual sombreros. Even the Mexican music that was being played was not the usual, but it was a pleasant addition to our whole experience.

Time for dessert! The dessert offerings were three: homemade churros served with a warm chocolate sauce, Mexican flan, and fried plantain chips served with ice cream and caramel sauce. What a dilemma! We chose to split the churros with the chocolate sauce, and we were not disappointed.

There is a kids’ menu, and based upon the various age groups we saw enjoying their dinners, kids would be comfortable. The bathroom was clean and very basic. The staff was very friendly and attentive and carefully answered any questions we had.

Cactus Zone is open for dinner Monday through Friday and is open for lunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday. They are closed on Monday. Might be a close-by place to go for Cinco de Mayo!

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