Baja Catcus - Milpitas

Main Street is a newer, modern, off the beaten path section of Milpitas that is oddly hidden from the rest of town. Baja Cactus has a sizeable parking lot and in the pre COVID world, looks like would be a fun place for a lunch with friends. Outdoor seating available on about a dozen tables. We ordered take out: I ordered the combo chicken enchilada, pork tamale and crunch taco (chicken)... they're pretty flexible on combos with many choices, but everything was pretty regular. Highly recommend the chips with red salsa and fresh guacamole, which they give to you in 1/4 quart containers so plenty for leftovers! The tamale for me was the biggest disappointment it tasted dry and defunct of texture, as if it were frozen earlier. The chicken in the other two items could have been juicier as well.

Baja Cactus is located in Old Downtown Milpitas. It doesn't look like much when you drive by. In fact, you can easily miss this place. We found parking right upfront but only because we were the only ones there. The interior reminds me of old historic Mexican buildings. The entire restaurant is very clean. I love the dark wood surrounding the restaurant. It actually felt like being in someone's home. The food? Eh, it was subpar compared to other Mexican restaurants. Burrito plate: S/O ordered with beef. Then plate includes a fat burrito, rice, and refried beans. His burrito was filled with avocado and meat. He was satisfied. Chimichanga plate: I ordered it with shredded beef. Sadly, it tasted bland. The meat didn't have flavor and it tasted like it was sitting under a heat lamp for a while. The good thing? Service and their tortilla chips lol. I could go for a second round of their homemade spicy salsa as well. Good but not good enough. I say, pass.

Came here for lunch today and it was a pleasant singing experience. It wasn't too crowded at 11:30am but more people showed up after noon. There was never a wait though. The service was good, kept coming to refill our chips and salsa! And the food was good, ordered a shrimp and fish dish with garlic sauce, mix it together with the rice and yummmm! They also give you tortillas on the side so you can make mini tacos! The dish also comes with a side salad with avocado! We also ordered the enchiladas Rojas! A little less sauce than I like but the flavor was good! In addition, the beans! They were really flavorful! I'll definitely come back :

Being back in the bay has allowed me to eat at restaurants I always wanted try. This one was on the list. LETS GO..portion sizes are so important my god I paid $14.95 for this and believe me the chorizo is not made in house, I pack of chorizo $2. Lesson learned.

Came in for late week late lunch. Parking lot was barely full and Restaurant maybe had 2 3 filled tables. Watch out for cracked concrete and small potholes in the parking lot. Immediately we were greeted and sat in a booth. Menus were given and beverage orders were taken. Only 2 wait peeps, so they were not as friendly as I 'd hope. Just robotic but efficient. Chips and salsa were good, However, thick tortilla chips were a bit stale. But medium heat salsa was good with a roasted charred flavor. Started off with coctel de camarones (shrimp cocktail Mexucan style) but it was just ok. It was room temp but sauce seemed muddled and old. I 've had better at other Mexican restaurants. Shrimp just a wee bit overdone as it was tough to bite down on (ie rubbery). It came with packaged crackers, as well. My lunch buddy ordered the chimichanga platter (comes with rice and retried beans). The chosen meat was carnitas in a flour wrapped burrito shell and I LOVED the taste, texture and moistness of the beef. I was lucky enough to taste a bite. Muy deliciodo, mis amigos. I ordered BARBACOA as it was a special item on the specials board. I loved my BARBACOA, of which I never tasted. It was the BOMB, imho. The beef nuggets were large, moist (which I love) and tender, juicy pieces. The sauce I 'd describe as a dark marroon spicy (at the end of each bite). It had little fat on some pieces but very very minimal fat. It comes with my chosen tortilla which is a must to sop up the gravy sauce. Also rice and refried beans next to the seperate oval baking dish holding the BARBACOA. Comes also with a soufflé cup of chopped fresh white onion and freshly chopped cilantro. Overall, the misses of the stsle tortilla chips and mediocre shrimp cocktail, the carnitas burrito snd my new fav, BARBACOA, I think it 's a 4 star experience. Rehview from 2017 (4 stars) I 've been on a Mexican restaurant tour in San Jose and Milpitas. It 's been 3 years this month since I last yelped. I 've usually had lunch at this hidden gem in old mipitas. But since driving near by, thought hey why not try them for dinner. But I was pressed for time, so decided to call in an order. Boy I was lucky...they were closing in 10 minutes, but I was 5 minutes away. I was so glad he took my order. I ordered a combo that included 2 Flautas and one choice from either taco, burrito, enchiladas or chile rellano. I picked chili rellano. In addition, added a menudo order. The Flautas were crunchy, beans and rice were hot and on par. Menudo, to my surprise, was flavorful and broth was deep maroon and broth was lightly thick (I think from the gelatinous pata . Since it was close to closing, I think that was made for the next day... So I got a fresh full bodied menudo w/ all the standard condiments. They also put a few mini bags of chips. It 's always been a good restaurant to enjoy. They are also one of the few Mexican restaurants with a larger seafood menu section...thus the name Baja Cactus.