Iron Cactus Review and GIVEAWAY

One reason I think so many Austinites are so smitten with the city is the variety and selection of restaurants to choose from. Yes, we Austinites love to eat out. Of course, for parents, eating out can be a welcome break from the routine, a golden opportunity to be waited on instead of feeling like a short-order cook subject to the most discriminating palates and of course, the chance to have someone else do the food prep, cooking and perhaps, most important, the cleaning (sound the trumpets!). Living close to the Arboretum, one of the restaurants in our rotation is Iron Cactus.

When I’m choosing a restaurant, there are three characteristics I tend to gravitate towards and Iron Cactus fits them all:

1. Family friendly. Yes, most of the places we go to appeal to the 10 and under crowd. One thing we particularly like is the shady back patio with fountain. The kids menu has a lot of options and chips at the table is always great for staving off pre-meal hunger.
2. Moms’ Night Out. The restaurant does great business at Happy Hour, and with one look at the drink and appetizer menu, it’s easy to see why. You can choose from $3 house margaritas, house wines, well drinks and domestic beer. There is an impressive list of appetizers and it’s not the kind of place where you have to scream so the person on the opposite side of the table can hear you.
3. Date night. Although the restaurant is kid-friendly, it’s also a bit more upscale than the typical family restaurant, so it can easily double as a date night location. There is tons to choose from on the menu, from staples to items you won’t see on a typical Tex-Mex menu. My husband requests to go because he loves the salsa that’s served warm, although I know others are not crazy about it (seems to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it things). Since my dad is gluten free, I appreciated seeing they have a menu with a good selection of items he could order from.

While Iron Cactus might not be my *favorite* restaurant and there have been a few cases of the food being inconsistent, I’m glad we live close by so we can enjoy it with kids, friends or just on a quiet evening with my husband.
GIVEAWAY- Would you like to receive a $50 gift card to Iron Cactus? Take your family, take your friends, take your husband or partner and allow yourself a night off from the kitchen!

What do you have to do to win? Leave a comment here or fill out the form below. One winner will be chosen randomly and will be contacted via email. The deadline to enter is Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at midnight. Only one entry per household, please.

Disclosure: We received a gift certificate to check out the restaurant which we used to celebrate a December birthday.

Written by Nicole Basham

*This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who left comments or submitted an entry.