Sam C.
Yelp
Absolutely PHENOMENAL experience at The Cactus Room! My friends and I briefly reunited in Virgin, UT for just one (1) night on our respective road trips / summer vacations; I hadn't seen these friends in eight (8) years -- they live in Nashville, TN, and my husband and I now live in Los Angeles -- and we were all scheduled to go our separate ways after dinner that evening. So, our time together was brief, and we knew we needed a meet-up spot for dinner that would at least "get the job done" and (with any luck) wouldn't create a(n) "oh-God-why-did-we-come-here?" sort of experience...
BOY, did this place ever DELIVER (and HOW)! First off, The Cactus Room is an unassuming, quasi-"hole-in-the-wall" type of restaurant (as all the very best restaurants are -- let's not argue with the late Anthony Bourdain on that, shall we?); it's actually located INSIDE a gift shop called Buffalo Trails Trading Company. You walk in and are immediately greeted with a few dusty racks and display cases of local souvenirs, knick-knacks, and handicrafts amidst interior decor that feels immediately old AND PERFECT (think: a steer / buffalo skull, a chandelier made of entwined antlers, split wooden log beams lining the ceiling, etc.). The place had (nay, HAS!) impressively high reviews on Google, and it was only 3 miles down the road from our respective campsites. So, we weren't sure what to expect, but the convenience enticed us, and signs were certainly promising...
We all got burgers (3 of them were the joint's "world-famous" buffalo burgers , and 1 was a veggie burger), and we all agreed that these rivaled ANY burger we'd ever had in our lives. The homemade French fries were so fresh, and unmistakably hand-cut (the BEST)!
And the owner / server / host extraordinaire -- Bob -- was a real character, with a heart of gold. He was quick, funny, so real, and so thoughtful. Bob even had gluten-free buns and (totally delicious!) veggie burgers on hand, so my friends (one of whom has Celiac disease, and the other of whom is vegan) were 100% accommodated from the get-go, and we were so grateful! To top it all off, Bob later verbally rattled off a dizzying list of his homemade desserts to us -- there must have been 7 or 8 fresh pies from which to choose, and they all sounded INCREDIBLY delicious; we only wound up trying the banana cream, the peaches 'n' cream, and the appropriately named "damn brownie" (!) with chocolate gelato on top, but those were all show-stoppers, and they proved to be the perfect ending to a most-satisfying meal.
If there was anything BETTER than the food (which, again, was extraordinarily good!), it was the warm, hospitable service and the quirky ambiance; it was more like being invited to eat in someone's home (or attic -- LOL!) than just "dining at a restaurant." We almost felt as if we'd actually met the REAL "Bob" from the hit animated TV show, "Bob's Burgers", only instead of an unnamed New Jersey seaside community, the man -- and his fabulous business -- can be found next to Zion National Park, in Virgin, Utah.
If you're ever in the area, GO. HERE. Don't even seek other recommendations; even a lot of "locals" in the area don't seem to know about this place, and they are unquestionably MISSING OUT!
The Cactus Room is a diamond in the rough, and -- in terms of eateries -- a true oasis in the desert.