The Kozy Cactus

So it was hump day, (Wednesday for those non KMLE country listeners) and I was really tired. I had just gotten home from work, changed clothes, and fired up my computer when my sister called. She wanted me to come over and have dinner with her and her husband, I said, "Great, What are you making?"....her reply, we are going out! I really wasn't in the mood to get back into "going out in public clothes" but she mentioned that they wanted to go to The Kozy Cactus. They had been a few times before and raved about it, so I mustered up some energy, changed clothes and hopped in the car.

The Kozy Cactus opened around the end of last year and is located in the shopping plaza with Target by Paradise Valley Mall. It occupies the space that was most recently Voodoo Daddy's Cajun Grill, which I never went to, but it used to be The Eggery when I was a kid. The Kozy Cactus prides themselves in serving "Renewed American" Organic cuisine. I had never been to a restaurant before that was all about serving organic and locally produced food, so I was excited to try it out.

It was pretty empty when we arrived about 6:30 pm, we were told we could pick whatever table we wanted, I immediately opted for a booth. There was a large bar area that seemed to have a lot of people enjoying drinks after work, and there even seemed to be a few people brave enough to sit out on the patio and brave the wind that was blowing wildly that night. We sat down and looked over the menu. My first impression was that the menu wasn't very big, but many times a smaller menu equals better food, and my guess was that they were still in the process of tweaking it.

My sister wanted to get an appetizer to start. Since I consider "dip" to be one of my favorite food groups, I was open to it. I really wanted to try the Avocado and White Bean Spread, but upon that suggestion, my sister's face looked like she just bit into a lemon. So I agreed to go with her suggestion of the Spinach Artichoke Dip. When the dip came out, it was served with toasted bread slices instead of the more typical tortilla chips. We spread the dip on the bread slices and dug into it. My first impression was that it was a little bland, I ended up having to put some salt on it. My second thought was that this should be called a spread, not a dip. Call me a purist, but I think if you call something a dip, that you should be able to scoop it up with something that is edible, rather than having to use silverware. Overall, it was just okay. It had a cream cheese base, which I thought was completely overpowering of the spinach and artichokes. I may be biased, because I do make a killer spinach artichoke dip if I do say so myself, but this just didn't hit the spot for me. My sister and her husband both liked it, so it didn't go to waste!



The rest of our entrees arrived and I was very impressed by the presentation. Greg had ordered the crab cakes with the garlic mashed potatoes. He got two huge crab cakes and a large pile of potatoes, as well as some steamed broccoli. He had had these here before, and couldn't stop telling me how great they were...and he was right! The crab cakes were almost all crab, not full of bread fillers. They were seasoned really well, and with the tartar sauce they were just perfect, some of the best I can remember having in recent memory, and I am a crab cake freak! The mashed potatoes had just enough garlic to them, and they were very creamy. Overall, it was a dish that I would definitely order on a return trip.



Laura was feeling really hungry, so she opted for the bacon cheeseburger; it was served with a side of mixed fries, regular and sweet potato. The burger was huge, and piled high with fresh toppings. She really enjoyed it. It was cooked exactly to her specifications of just a little pink in the middle and the fries were the perfect compliment. She really liked the bun, which she said seemed to be fresh baked and a bit more like a focaccia roll than a typical hamburger bun. I didn't have a chance to snag a bite, but she reassured me it was a winner.

I didn't quite know what I was in the mood for that night (there weren't many items that had beans in them on the menu) so I opted to go with the barbecue pulled pork special. It too was served with the mixed fries and had coleslaw and pickled red onions piled on top of it. The sandwich was a bit intimidating, so I decided to fork and knife it. I snagged a forkful of the pork and was immediately very happy with my choice. The pork had a sweet undertone to it that I had never experienced before, it was absolutely delicious! Next I tried it with some of the coleslaw, and the coleslaw really added a bit of tang to the sweet pork. I picked off the onions, normally I am a big onion fan, but not sure how I felt about pickled onions, and I wasn't feeling too adventurous that night, but I am sure they were probably there for a reason! The mixed fries were great, I could tell that they were hand cut. It was a huge serving of pork and I ended up bringing enough home for another meal!

I really liked my experience at the Kozy Cactus, except for one thing. My seat was facing the bar area, and there was this couple at the bar that were making out and groping each other throughout our entire meal...I mean the guys hand was getting dangerously close to venturing off down the girls pants....it was something that I just didn't need to, or want to see. I was a bit surprised that no one said anything to them, considering the owner of the restaurant came over to see how everything was with us, so he was in the vicinity; but it didn't ruin our meal.

I would definitely return to The Kozy Cactus, they have a nice appetizer menu and the bar has lots of TVs, so I could see it being a great place to catch a game and have a snack. So after a shopping marathon at the mall, if you are in need of some refueling, check it out!

The Kozy Cactus

4326 E. Cactus Rd., Ste. 3

Phoenix, AZ 85032

http://www.kozycactus.com/